Nigerians have taken to social media to question why the country’s elite class and governance system have demonised dreadlocks and equated it with criminality, amid other vices.
This was a reaction to the news of Abiola Abidoye, a Nigerian student in the United Kingdom, setting a new record as he bags the highest A-level result.
The 18-year-old Abidoye, who visibly has dreadlocks, studied at One Sixth Form College in Ipswich and earned A* grades in maths, further maths, law, and physics. In law, he scored an impressive 224 out of 240 marks across three papers—despite admitting it was not his strongest subject.
According to Instabloga9ja’s Post on X, the teenager was stunned to learn he had secured the best law result nationwide. “I was very surprised… I saw that result before my others, and I was already nervous waiting for them. I put in an immense amount of work, staying up to ungodly hours. I put a lot of pressure on myself, but I’m happy with the outcome.”
Reacting to the story, a netizen by the moniker Vintage (@tvndey) on X while congratulating Abidoye lamented on how a young person like Abidoye in Nigeria would have been criminalised because of his looks without any regard for his potentials and abilities. According to him: “Congratulations to him. Nigerian police fit don kpai him cuz they feel he is a Yahoo boy because of his dreadlocks.”
Another X user, Otunba (@JasperOtunba), bemoaned Nigerian academic institutions as projector of the society’s stereotype, saying that: “In Nigeria he wouldn’t even be allowed into a classroom with dreadlocks talkless of writing an exam.”
Hamza_Baba (onlyHamza_baba) also aligning with Otunba’s position, said: “Baba you go first barb that hair off first before you set that record. otherwise, they no go allow you get that grade for our system here.” For Samze Boy (@ejetaokpa), dreadlocks has been constructed as a sign of failure in life’s endeavours, noting that “Omo see as he do dread get A if nah for naija they will say u don’t have future.”
Abidoye is set to continue his academic journey by studying mathematics at university, with ambitions of pursuing a career in banking or finance.
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